Is the Army of God On the March Again?

By Anne Bower

The phone started ringing off the hook about 4:58 last night. The
mainstream media had just found out that a group calling itself the
Army of God had sent a handwritten letter to the Reuter news agency
claiming responsibility for the bombings in Atlanta. Reporters who
typed in, Army of God, on the Internet came up with
an article I authored a year ago
about Shelley Shannon, who considered herself a
Soldier in the Army of God and was in possession of multiple copies of
their manual when she was arrested for the attempted murder of Dr.
Tiller. (Ms. Shannon had buried the manuals in her backyard.)

Reporters were frantically scrambling for any info on this group. No
one I talked to had much idea of who they were and what might be going
on. Of course, few of my readers would be surprised. You know that
there is a movement of violent activists whose stated goal is to place
America under the rule of the Bible. These people hate abortion,
homosexuality, multiculturalism, public education, evolution, and,
like my neighbor Randy Terry, preach, promote, and revel in
intolerance.

As soon as the bombs went off at the Atlanta clinic, my fellow
researchers and I all said, this is a perfect MO for members of a
Christian militia. This second bomb at the lesbian nightclub is
clearly in keeping with another target of these hate groups. Our
concern now is, what's next? Another clinic? Another club? Or will
the AoG expand to other public entities on the hit list, like public
schools which are routinely likened to "the Gates of Hell?" (see page
25)

As I write this, there are no answers, but a lot of scary questions.
Has this Army of God finally found its recruits and arsenal in the
person of Christian militia members who have been actively training
for civil upheaval? Shelley Shannon's "escapades": setting fire to
clinics, injecting butyric acid into clinic walls, and the wounding of
Dr. George Tiller, seem pretty pitiful when contrasted with these
deadly bombs.

Shelley was a raw recruit. If the Army of God is really on the march
again, this time they are well armed and disciplined. Clinics have a
reason to be afraid. But then, so do the rest of us.